Spring Mantle Decor Refresh (that cost nothing!)

With the official start of Spring already past but no desire to spend money on new décor this season, I found a way to refresh my Spring mantle décor that cost nothing!

Let’s be honest, life is pretty crazy right now. With the current state of affairs, I, like most people I imagine, am being pretty picky about what I’m spending my money on. Unfortunately, new decorations didn’t make the cut.

But with some cardstock, spray paint, and a little creativity, I managed to create a new décor scheme for the mantle that I love for the Spring season.

So, if you’re also looking to add some Spring flair for little to no cost (or just need a project to keep busy), check out these easy ideas!

Paper Flowers

Switching out the florals in my décor is probably my favorite part about redecorating for the season. I love strolling along the aisles of Hobby Lobby for ideas (though I usually end up buying budget-friendly florals from Wal-Mart).

Obviously, this year, I’m not strolling down any aisles. So, I went looking for another option and decided to incorporate paper flowers.

Now, there are a few different ways to do this. I went with the rolled flower, a method that involves taking a spiral design and rolling it into the shape of a flower before securing it with glue. You can find the tutorial and templates I used here.

To do this, I selected a few different templates, resized them for a little variation, and cut them out using my Cricut on neutral toned cardstock.

If you don’t have a Cricut (or similar die cutting machine), rolled flowers may not be the best option as the templates are small and cutting them out by hand, while not impossible, would get pretty tedious.

In this case, I would recommend using flower templates like these that would be easier to cut by hand. Last Summer, I used this method to make giant paper flowers for a baby shower. Using a computer, you can easily resize the templates to whatever size you like.

For an even easier option, you can also make flowers out of tissue paper!

After I made my flowers, I used hot glue and floral wire to attach them to a garland of eucalyptus I already had from last year.

Repurpose

As with the eucalyptus garland, I did quite a bit of repurposing for this décor refresh.

I found a few loose stems of eucalyptus and white flowers (I think they might be cherry blossoms?) in a box of old decorations that fit well with the color scheme I created using my paper flowers.

I also had some mason jars that had previously been used for baby shower décor. However, they were painted with rose gold glitter, which wasn’t exactly the vibe I was going for (this time at least). Thankfully, a quick rummage through the garage resulted in a can of hammered bronze metal finish spray paint (I love the texture this paint develops). After repainting the jars, I used them as vases for the floral stems.

Shop Your Home

The rest of my décor are items I found around the house. I kept the custom sign I created and added a few canvas photo prints. The sign and photos also serve a functional purpose. A previous tenant installed cable connections and outlets above the fireplace that we have no intention of using (they also did a DIY mantle that is not very stable). Because of the wires and outlet plates, decorating the mantle always involves using pieces that easily hide them from view.

To add some height variations, I pulled a few hardcover books from my bookshelf that had neutral covers and stacked them under the mason jars.

All in all, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. And if this situation doesn’t change by the time I’m ready to decorate for Summer, I found a tutorial for paper succulents that I might need to try. (Who am I kidding…I’ll end up trying them anyway.)

For more easy and inexpensive DIY projects, check out how I made my front porch Welcome sign for under $10 and how I made an interchangeable hoop wreath.